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J.P. Morgan Did Not "Aid and Abet" Amaranth's Manipulation – Second Circuit Articulates and Applies the Standard for Aiding and Abetting Liability under the Commodity Exchange Act

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In evaluating claims against J.P. Morgan in its role as Amaranth Advisors LLC's ("Amaranth") futures commission merchant ("FCMM") and clearing broker, the Second Circuit followed Learned Hand's 1938 articulation "that aiding and abetting requires the defendant to 'in some sort associate himself with the venture, that he participate in it as in something that he wishes to bring about, that he seek by his action to make it succeed.'" In evaluating allegations of two manipulative schemes - Amaranth's buildup of large NYMEX positions and "slamming the close" - the Second Circuit affirmed that allegations of J.P. Morgan's support for Amaranth's manipulation fell short of such aiding and abetting liability.